The crew of HMAS Choules celebrated International Women's Day at sea this year through the sharing of ideas, stories and experiences of supporting women within and outside Navy.
With a higher proportion of female personnel on board than most other ships in the fleet, the range of experiences sparked thoughtful discussion and opened new avenues of conversation.
Among those on board was Communication Information Systems (CIS) sailor, Seaman Laura Reeves.
She is deployed in Choules for the high-end maritime warfare activity Exercise Kakadu.
Held biennially, the 2026 iteration is being conducted across the largest exercise area of any iteration of Kakadu yet, providing the scale and complexity for 19 nations to train at sea for realistic challenges in the maritime domain.
The exercise will feature a number of maritime serials, including replenishments at sea, aviation operations and high-end multi-domain operations between participating forces.
'This training prepares us and our regional partners for complex scenarios that may occur.'
As a CIS sailor, Seaman Reeves is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal and external communications.
Her role ensures the reliable transmission of critical voice, data and video between ships and shore authorities.
It is essential for successful cooperation between the participating partner nations in the task group as they navigate in company to Jervis Bay, ahead of the Kakadu Fleet Review.
"It is an honour to be contributing in this task group, which includes a large mix of capability from the participating partner nations," Seaman Reeves said.
"This training prepares us and our regional partners for complex scenarios that may occur, from humanitarian crises to high-end warfighting operations.
"Our recent commencing exercise with the Royal Malaysian Navy, Philippine Navy, Indian Navy and Royal Thai Navy kept us all focused and confident so we're ready to respond together, when required."
As Choules continues her transit during Kakadu, sailors like Seaman Reeves remain focused on strengthening cooperation with regional partner nations while supporting the evolving role of women across the Royal Australian Navy.
